Regulation 276. Procedure of the appeal

(a) any decision by the General Contracts Committee, the Sectoral Procurement Directorate or the Special Contracts Committee or by the contracting authority, shall be made public by affixing it to the notice-board of the Department of Contracts, the Sectoral Procurement Directorate or of the office of the contracting authority, as the case may be, or by uploading it on government’s e-procurement platform prior to the award of the contract if the call for tenders is administered by the Department of Contracts;

(b) the appeal of the complainant shall also be affixed to the notice-board of the Public Contracts Review Board and shall be communicated by fax or by other electronic means to all participating tenderers;

(c) the contracting authority and any interested party may, within ten calendar days from the day on which the appeal is affixed to the notice board of the Review Board and uploaded where applicable on the government’s e-procurement platform, file a written reply to the appeal. These replies shall also be affixed to the notice board of the Review Board and where applicable they shall also be uploaded on the government’s e-procurement platform;

(d) the authority responsible for the tendering process shall within ten days forward to the chairman of the Public Contracts Review Board all documentation pertaining to the call for tenders in question including files and tenders submitted;

(e) the secretary of the Review Board shall inform all the participants of the call for tenders, the Department of Contracts, the Sectoral Procurement Directorate and the contracting authority of the date or dates, as the case may be, when the appeal will be heard;

(f) when the oral hearing is concluded, the Public Contracts Review Board, if it does not deliver the decision on the same day, shall reserve decision for the earliest possible date to be fixed for the purpose, but not later than six weeks from the day of the oral hearing: Provided that for serious and justified reasons expressed in writing by means of an order notified to all the parties, the Public Contracts Review Board may postpone the judgment for a later period;

(g) the secretary of the Review Board shall keep a record of the grounds of each adjournment and of everything done in each sitting;

(h) after evaluating all the evidence and after considering all submissions put forward by the parties, the Public Contracts Review Board shall decide whether to accede or reject the appeal or even cancel the call if it appears to it that this is best in the circumstances of the case.